Baze, Hollendorfer each entered in first Big 'Cap

HORSE RACING

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Santa Anita Handicap is the most storied horse race in California history, won by such greats as Seabiscuit, Noor, Round Table, Lucky Debonair, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry and Alysheba.

Its national importance has diminished over the past 20 years because of the Breeders' Cup and the Dubai World Cup, and its best-known recent winners are Lava Man and Tiznow. Still, it remains California's No. 1 race in years when the Breeders' Cup isn't held at Santa Anita or Hollywood Park.

Jockey Russell Baze has ridden in 44,121 races, winning 10,041, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has started 22,370 horses, winning with 5,049. But neither has participated in the Santa Anita Handicap - until today.

Baze will ride Monterey Jazz and Hollendorfer will saddle Heatseeker in the Grade 1, $1 million race, and both are strong contenders.

"There are lots of races I haven't ridden in, like the Preakness and Belmont," Baze said. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not thrilled to ride in this race with a good chance to win. I went down there for three years to ride that kind of horse in those kinds of races."

But even when Baze rode in Southern California in 1989-91, he never got a mount in the Big 'Cap. Now he's on a fast horse that has won three straight races, including a 4 1/2-length romp in the Grade 2 Strub Stakes.

Trainer Craig Dollase picked Baze to replace David Flores on Monterey Jazz after Flores chose to ride Dollase's other Big 'Cap entrant, Awesome Gem. Baze rode Monterey Jazz when Dollase sent the colt to Golden Gate Fields for a maiden win June 9.

"The only question is distance to me," Baze said of the Big 'Cap's 1 1/4 miles. "But I'm sure they wouldn't be running if they thought he couldn't go that far. I could lay just off if someone goes suicidal fractions, but I'm pretty sure he'll be on the lead trying to go coast to coast."

Hollendorfer took over the training of Heatseeker after William DeBurgh bought the colt in August. Heatseeker won the Grade 3 Native Diver Handicap in a 30-to-1 upset Dec. 8 and missed by a head of winning the Grade 2 San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 9.

"I don't think about the historical perspective of it," Hollendorfer said of his first Big 'Cap. "It's more for the horse. I'm just trying to do a good job and get the horse to win a race like that. The horse is coming along just fine, and we're looking at 1 1/4 miles as being right up his alley."

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.